My Spiderman Son

He loves climbing on the storage box and hope it will move by itself... Unknown to him, Mummy is pushing it... So. Son, the box does not move by itself ok??

Botanic Gdn - 27th Dec 2009

We went to Orchid Gdn for a short walk. Up & Down the slope. See the grin on Ryan's face? Happy Boy = Tired Parents

A Trip to the newly revamped Jurong Point

A visit to Yi Teng's Hse @ Yishun

Gong Tou & Por Tou House Visiting

A happy day for both great-grandparents as finally - Ryan allows them to carry him.
It may seem like a simple thing for most families. But for the choosy Ryan, it made a big difference. Ryan kissed G-Grandpa on cheeks & waved bye before leaving. He hugs G-Grandpa whenever it's being requested.

As for G-Grandma.... Some more work needs to be done. Haiz..

Last batch of Xmas photos

Nothing much to comment about. Except for the part where Ryan tries to drag the Eurasian gal away! LOL

A Day @ Changi Airport

Nai Nai & Mummy brought Ryan to some Robinsons sales while Daddy went to Sitex. Since both events were at Expo, we took MRT together.

After shopping, we proceeded to Airport since it has been a long time since we ventured EAST side. Ryan had lots fun there as it was spacious and clean. He went around, curious about everything. Especially the giant red ball that spins with music.

Very long day for all of us as we took bus 36 to Orchard and changed to bus 106 home.
Long story, exciting day for Ryan. Great bargains for Mummy! :)

Ryan Xmas Gift from Po Po

Advance pressie from Po Po as he loves the phone so much. Refused to return to the shelf.

The enjoyment lasted till mid Dec 09 before he found another "true-love" **ELMO**!!

More Xmas photos on Orchard Road

Some lightings along Orchard Road.
Photos of Ryan mostly - playing along the road and playing pretend while waiting for dinner to arrive.

PoPo's birthday on 11th Nov 09

We went to traders hotel to have buffet dinner. Food aside, it was a rather enjoyable gathering. It was difficult to have a meal with the entire family as everyone has different working schedules. I am glad we made it on that day - special for my mom.

Happy Birthday Mum! From all of us here...

31st Oct - 8th Nov 09 Christmas photo taking outings

Ryan loves christmas trees. So we try to bring him to most places to take some photos for memories since this year we did not display our christmas tree at home. As we fear it may not last a day in Ryan's hands... keke

Enjoy! :)

Supermarket, here we go!

Ryan is usually the "procurement manager"... He will go around looking for things to put in the basket. Checking the quality by "throwing" it on the floor or biting the wrapper to check if the package is intact.
Busy shopper on the go!

27th Sep 09 - Jovan's 1st Birthday Party @ Yishun Safra CC

The playful Ryan addicted to "driving"...
He hogs the car! I had to literally pull him away. Luckily Sharlyn rented a few. So there were enough to go around as there were tons of kids that day...

Busy, Stress, Tired Me

I am blogging from TCC now... No time to use computer as I am too busy with my job.
Having 2 jobs is no joke... I am beginning to regret my decision to sign the contract.
Arghhh!!

Whole day at the office stressing till i tug my tresses, come home I have to immediately transform to a supermom with no rest in between... Late at night when Ryan is finally asleep, I have the usual chores to do.

Oh! What have I gotten myself into??  I am waiting patiently for year end to arrive as it marks the finale of my contract job.
When January arrives, I shall decide for good what my career path shall be.  Whether I stay in the same line or shall I revert to my old line.

Enough complaining for now.  Talking about Ryan makes me happier.

At 19th Month, I'm glad he has shown some growth after being stagnant for quite some time...

Weight: 12kg
Height: 82cm

He has grown into a full-fledged tantrum filled toddler! Yeah for him and Boo for me.
So hard to handle a struggling boy thesedays... Gone were the days where he will give me peace and quiet while he sleeps all day long.  Haha
Boy do I miss those days...

Some updates of Ryan.

He can talk. Haha... To my understanding only.  If I do not get it, he'll physically turn my face and point. Making eye contact ensuring I see what he see.
His smiles? Pouting lips! Argh... cute lah.
He loves to grin without the camera. Haiz...
The last time I took a nice picture of him was in september on my birthday. How pathetic...

He hasn't change much, only that he is more grumpy. He whines lots, uses his tears as powerful weapon against me.  (I usually lose)
He uses his t-shirt to help me wipe my tears when he see me crying.  When I cough, he uses his hand to cover my mouth.
When I sneeze, he sneezes with me (falsely just for the fun of it)
He runs, falls, laugh, cry just like any toddler.

I love it when he hugs me when he knows that I am sad.
I love it when he calls me lovingly while staring in my face.

All in all, I love my affectionate, naughty little Ryan.  My baby...

Just some fussing from naggy old me...

I have not been blogging for quite some time... Many of Ryan's photos are not updated too.

Since I started my new job.  It has been rather enjoyable yet tiring.  As I gradually drop off my clients from my previous job, I feel very guilty.  Sometimes I question my decision to hold 2 jobs at the same time.  I cannot relinquish my previous job overnight as it involves many people.  Neither do I wish to give up my new comfortable paying job.

Many people have asked me to resign from my previous employment... Though the pay is peanuts, I really love the job.
On the other hand, the new job is comfortably paid with nice environment, but it is a job scope which I loathe.  I do not have confidence that I will stay long, doing the same thing over and over, for the next few years.  Besides, my skillset is already rusty.  I'll need to invest time and money to upgrade myself if I intend to stay in this new career, in order to reach greater heights.

Everyday at lunch, where others get to rest a full hour, I have to "tapao".  No luxury of eating outside with fellow colleagues.  Reason being, I want to stand my views on extended breastfeeding.  So I will always keep at least 30mins of my lunch hour for pumping session.

After pumping, I always feel so lethargic.  I have to rely on viewing Ryan's photo during each session to keep my day bright & chirpy.

After a long day at work, I love to see Ryan's exciting face upon seeing me at the gate.  This is probably the only thing that keeps me going.

Once I attended Adam Khoo's seminar.  He said something that got me thinking...
What is your bottom line?  What drives you?  How much pain must you suffer before you will feel the pain enough for change to take place?  What is preventing you from changing?

My bottom line:
Money? Nah... Spend lesser lor...
Pride? Nah... I am way past the stage of awards chasing...
Son's opinon of me? Yesh! I do not want Ryan to see me as a bum for his mother.

Preventation/Procrastination:
I love latching Ryan all day/night.  It does not matter what others say that extended breastfeeding is useless, blah, blah...  I do what I believe.
Baby drink Mama's milk.  Cow drink Moo-Moo's milk.

My previous job deters me from pumping on the go because I do not work at a fixed location.  Therefore I cannot pump on the go.  This was perhaps the reason why I refuse to "work" daily, consistantly.
My new job has a fixed location.  Best of all, they have a standard house type refrigerator for me to store my EBM.  The office is only 20mins away from my house.

So perhaps this is the drive that I need.

I just need to find a way to apologise to my clients and find a way to drag myself away from my old job.   Very sad to leave a job that I love...

Buffet @ Marina Mandrain Hotel - AquaMarine Cafe

Verdict:
Ambience - 9/10
Service - 9/10
Food - 3/10
Variety - 3/10

Not worth $ if you are going there for food. But if you are going there for biz meetings, it's a fantastic place.

Pandan Chiffon

I bought a new 23cm chiffon tin.  Here's the nice outcome. 

Yummy Chocolate Chip Chiffon Cake

I am extremely pleased with my latest bake...
Soft & Spongy, Sweet yet Light.


I almost forgot to credit Reena.. Cause she gave me a good tip about having more egg whites than yolks to create a fluffier cake. I also followed your advice on beating the egg white last instead of beating it first like I used to do.

A Day to Remember

The day Ryan happily sat in his Maclaren Volo stroller from the minute we step out of our house all the way until we left orchard road... I did not once took out my standby ERGO... :)

1.30pm - He sat in the stroller. We strolled him to the MRT station. Took mrt to Plaza Singapura. Had lunch afterwhich he happily slept in his stroller at 3.30pm.

5pm - He woke up. I latched him. Then we took MRT from orchard to bukit batok for church.
He was sitting on the train seat rather quietly. Not the usual yelling or squirming. Just that he occasionally wants to walk around. Since the train was quite empty, we allowed him to do so while holding our hands.

7pm - We proceeded to dinner at nearby coffeeshop. He obediently sat in his stroller while we fed him dinner. Then we allowed him to walk around to digest his food before bringing him home.

After 18 months of struggling with the stroller/pram, he finally decided that relaxing in the stroller is better than being carried in the ERGO all day long.

Hurray for my back! "Ouch"

Though I must say, it's really troublesome to take MRT all over town when we have direct bus to and fro...

All set & ready to go shopping. But...

Ryan has problem deciding which bag to bring. keke

We usually let Ryan decide what toys to bring & which bag to use. It's part of developmental process.
He's almost 18mths now. He likes to decide things for himself. He can be quite stubborn at times. So we usually let him have his way if it is within his own playing items...

Fun Photos @ Home

Nai-Nai gave Ryan a big red pail to contain all his toys. But it seems that he prefers to contain himself in the pail rather than the toys. kekeke

Almost perfect White Bread...

Verdict:
1) I used wrong size loaf tin (too small) no space for further expansion.
2) It needs an extra 5mins in the oven.

Banana Cake

I'm running out of ideas...  Any new innovative recipe that require common ingredients?

Today I had the urge to bake a cake.  I realised that 2 bananas r overripe.  So I decided to make banana cake instead of plain old butter cake.


My mom came over to my place when she decided against going CK Tang for a closed door sale this evening.  Since she likes having melted banana in the cake, i only lighted mashed it so we can actually taste the banana flesh.



No more cake pans. So i resorted to souffle cups.

Wai Gong's Birthday celebration @ Shangri-la Hotel

Long time since I last blogged...

WaiPo booked THE LINE cafe @ Shangri-la many weeks back.
Cause we are utilising WaiGong's birthday discount. hehe 56% off total bill.

Only we 4 people went as it was a weekday. Nice ambience, great food, superb dessert selections!

Highly recommended. But darn expensive without promotions.

We went NSRCC for swim after that. Ryan refused to enter the water. So we sat by the pool and kicked water for 10mins before we decided to give up coaxing him.

That's all the programme for that day.

A little upset this morning...

My MIL told me this morning that she decided to give Ryan 3 doses of FM each day.

I asked her if she intends to let Ryan wean, she say Ryan can still drink my milk during bedtime.  She did not realise that my milk supply will ultimately diminish if Ryan do not latch enough.

She is forcing Ryan to drink FM this morning when Ryan clearly isn't hungry.  Ryan takes anything.  When he is hungry, you offer a bottle, he will gladly take it.  But when I am around, he will prefer me.

I do not know why.  But I have to deal with the "weak breastmilk" topic almost every other day!

Ryan loves being with her.  The idea of preferring me vs bottle is not a threat to her.  Why does she insist that breastmilk makes Ryan skinny????
I am very sick of this topic.  Right from the start, I have already made my stand that I want to latch Ryan for as long as I can.  I will let Ryan wean when he is ready.  Meaning, the day Ryan rejects to drink from me.

I do not mind if Ryan drinks FM while I am at work.  But when I am home, why does she insist?  Her claim:  Don't waste the FM because it's already opened.  But what about establishing my milk supply???
If Ryan drinks too much FM, I will lose my supply ultimately!  Won't that be more wastage?

I am enduring this for a very long time already.  Ryan is close to 17months.  On one hand, she agrees that breast is best.  On the other hand, she wants me to wean.  WTH!

Sucks manz... Spoiling my day.  And I cannot show my anger to her for fear of creating war.

Addicted...

As my title states, I am totally addicted to baking! 

Whenever I see something nice sold outside, I will attempt to replicate it to my best effort.  Therefore, presenting today's bake...

Chocolate Chip Cookie - Subway's Style


Enjoy!

New Crave

All thanks to the japanese 'fish' shop located in ION...

I am engrossed with their chocolate banana pancake / french apple cinnamon pancake / japanese azukimu pancake.

So the first version is...

da dah!

Apple Cinnamon Tart

Open Faced

Closed Type

YES! I know it looks horrendous.  But truth be told, it tastes edible for a first timer...  Custard was not thick enough, tart skin was too thick.  I have limited space to roll out the dough! Haha! Excuses right?

Anyway, I'm gonna try another type.  The cold fruit tart type.  Hope I can make better custard the next time round.

16th Month Milestones

Height: 80cm
Weight: 10kg

Ryan is 'unofficially' entering the terrible 2s stage. 

Fierce, tantrum throwing toddler. Sigh...

On the other hand, he's a much more responsive & attractive toddler.  At least to his parents & grandparents.  He smiles whenever we need a cheering up.  He acts shy and stops us from talking when we re-enacts his candid acts to another person.

Oh boy!  Do we love Ryan!  I hope this blog stays intact until the day Ryan is able to comprehend whatever stuff I am writing here.

Dear Ryan,
I am pledging to latch you on for as long as I possibly can.  I hope to give you the best to an extent to whatever your daddy can afford.
We will love you, as long as you do whatever we tell you. *Just joking* We will love you no matter what.
Please give Daddy & Mommy the strength to care for you.  To be able to handle your toddler years and most importantly your childhood years.
As for your teen years, it's still pretty far...  Mommy will save it for the next emotional outburst.

Be cute, adorable, happy, obedient always!

Yours lovingly,
Mommy

Ryan's wooing days...

Ryan is so into gals/ladies these days... Hmm. Am I dealing with a lady killer over here? hehe

Lions vs Liverpool

Hubby & I left Ryan to the care of my MIL while we went to watch a long awaited liverpool match.

We reached national stadium at around 4.30pm. The east stand was already rather packed with enthusiastic fans.
We were given a scarf just printed for the occasion.
The sun was scorching hot. It only began to feel alittle windy after 6pm.
Though there were some football commentators entertaining us from the field, I think many fans were busy shielding themselves from the sun or having 'picnic' rather than interacting with the commentators.

The first half was boring. I was worried they might play like Man-U in KL - casually.

Luckily the fans woke the footballers up with constant kallang wave & songs from anfield. They decided to show their best side during the 2nd half of the game.
See what time the match started & what time each goal was in. There you can tell when is the actual climax of the match.

Poor photo quality due to my camera. Though my seats were already considered not too bad. Directly in the center of the pitch divider. A few rows upwards from the 2nd level entrance.
At that moment, I totally regretted not allowing my hubby to invest in a Nikon D90 last year... Oh Shucks!

Anyway, I'll just make do with whatever I have at the moment.

Latest Craves...

I bought fruit & nut biscotti from Swiss Bakes @ Cold Storage last night.
I have always liked biscotti, but too costly to eat everyday.  So, I made my own.


Too bad the slices are not wood shaving thickness. (Impossible to slice thinly by hand) Sigh.

While Mummy is at work, Ryan comes out to play...

Mummy, Nai-Nai & Ryan went to suntec for a day of leisure...

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo... How about you, you you...

Daddy took some leave to relax. So we brought Ryan to the zoo to have a day of fun.
Very tiring but fun day.